LOCAL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE EDITION MAY 2008 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO WILLIE An Excerpt from AN EPIC LIFE PLUS Saving the Kemp’s Ridley Turtle Berry Talented Hit the Road San Angelo to Paint Rock “Imadethe right choice” My name is Donald. This is my story. “I had just recently retired from the military when I learned I had prostate cancer. I researched many hospitals and procedures, and decided robotic prostate surgery was the best option for me. I chose Scott & White because of their excellent reputation, and state-of-the-art technology and treatment. Thanks to Scott & White, my life was far from over.” Scott & White is a leader in robotic prostate surgery—technology that can reduce pain and speed recovery for patients with prostate cancer. This procedure uses robotic technology to make the surgeons’ skillful hand movements even more precise. One in six American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. This cancer is curable with early diagnosis and treatment. See your doctor or call Scott & White today at 888-724-8649. Visit sw.org to learn more about robot-assisted surgery and read the rest of Donald’s amazing story. Your Choice. The Trusted Choice. Scott & White has been recognized by Thomson as a “100 Top Hospital”. ©2008 Scott & White. All rights reserved. May 2008 VOLUME 64 NUMBER 11 FEATURES 6 The Gospel According to Willie By Joe Nick Patoski Just in time for his 75th birthday, Willie Nelson: An Epic Life has been published by Little Brown and Company. Joe Nick Patoski, who wrote this definitive book about this Texas icon, allowed us to publish the first excerpt from it. 12 Saving the Kemp’s Ridley Turtle By Melissa Gaskill Taking eggs from the species’ only known nesting site in Northern Mexico, researchers 6 have established a successful second nesting site on North FAVORITES Padre Island. Footnotes By Martha Deeringer Alphonse and the Pig War 25 Recipe Roundup Berry Talented 26 Focus on Texas Cowboys 28 Around Texas Local Events Listings 36 Hit the Road By Camille Wheeler San Angelo to Paint Rock 38 25 26 28 12 TEXAS ELECTRIC COOPERATIVES BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Greg Jones, Chair, Rusk; Ray Beavers, Vice Chair, Cleburne; Darren Schauer, Secretary-Treasurer, Gonzales; James Calhoun, Franklin; Steve Louder, Hereford; Gary Nietsche, La Grange; William “Buff” Whitten, Eldorado PRESIDENT/CEO: Mike Williams, Austin Texas Co-op Power is published by your STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Roland Witt, Chair, Coleman; Bill Harbin, Vice Chair, Floydada; Roy Griffin, Edna; Kim Hooper, Bluegrove; Steve Young, Hamil ton; Robert A. Loth III, Fredericksburg; Melody Pinnell, Crockett electric cooperative to enhance the qual- COMMUNICATIONS STAFF: Martin Bevins, Sales Director; Carol Moczygemba, Executive Editor; Kaye Northcott, Editor; ity of life of its member-customers in an Suzi Sands, Art Director; Karen Nejtek, Production Manager; Andy Doughty, Production Designer; Sandra Forston, Communications Assistant; Melissa Grischkowsky, Communications Coordinator; Kevin Hargis, Copy Editor; Shannon Oelrich, educational and entertaining format. Food Editor; Dacia Rivers, Field Editor; Camille Wheeler, Staff Writer COVER PHOTO by Christopher Felver/Corbis May 2008 TEXAS CO-OP POWER 3 Copper Theft Has letters Consequences A man, presumed to have been involved in an attempted cop- COUNTRY DOCTORS THE ‘BEST’ per theft in Austin February 27, I look forward to receiving Texas received an estimated 80,000- Co-op Power because I have POWERTALK volt shock and died at Brooke come to expect at least one arti- Army Medical Center in San cle in each issue to inform and Antonio. He suffered burns delight me. The February issue over 100 percent of his body. is no exception. In fact, for me, “He was cutting a wire that the article by Sandy Sheehy, goes from the equipment into “Country Doctors,” is the best of the ground,” said Ed Clark of the best. It makes me want to Austin Energy. “This a favorite load up my trailer and move to target of those who are after Weimar. More important, it fills copper because you can possi- me with hope and thanksgiving bly cut a wire that is a ground- that rural physician programs ing wire and remove it. The exist in Texas medical schools problem is, if you touch equip- and that doctors opt to embrace ment in certain ways or in two this gift. Thanks for the good connection points, you can be, work your magazine does. of course, shocked.” HAROLD HOLLIS Meanwhile, under an Navasota Valley Electric Cooperative enhanced sentencing law, a copper thief was convicted SOLAR SYSTEMS EXPENSIVE February 15 and sentenced to The two primary issues in two years in a state felony developing and integrating facility and fined $5,000. The alternative energy are seam- theft occurred last November less, ease-of-use reliability EARTH MIGHT FEEL SOLAR STORMS in the New Home Community and cost factors. As an exam- The effects of a storm raging in the heavens will soon served by Rusk County Electric ple, current market for an be felt here on Earth, scientists have warned. The first Coopera tive. During the trial, installed, turnkey photovoltaic sunspots in an erupting geomagnetic solar storm have co-op employees said that cop- (PV) system is around $9 per per wire theft has cost cooper- watt generated, so a 5-kilowatt been detected on the sun’s surface, heralding the start atives and other power home system would be about of what some observers predict will be a strong 11-year providers in East Texas alone $45,000 before rebates, if any. storm cycle. approximately $4.3 million. This assumes a six-hour-a-day In the past, solar storms, in which the sun’s mag- Copper is selling for more average, and such a system than $3 a pound—hardly enough netic field sends highly charged material toward Earth, would generate about 10,950 money to risk your life for. kilowatt-hours a year, $1,095 at have led to power grid failures and interfered with 10 cents per kWh, which works satellites. With society’s reliance on cellular communi- out to a 41-year payback. But cations and global positioning satellite devices, this that energy is generated almost most recent storm, expected to peak in 2011 or 2012, QUOTABLE entirely during the so-called has the potential for widespread disruptions. “peak” hours. The two main I am forced to conclude factors to consider with self- On the bright side, the storms in the past have “that God made Texas ”on generation are: What do you allowed Texans glimpses of the northern lights. His day off, for pure enter- pay now? And how long do you tainment, just to prove expect to live where you are? what diversity could be DANIEL LEA crammed into one section Cedar Park Freezer Curtains Keep Cold Air In of earth by a really Top Pedernales Electric Cooperative My wife made plastic curtains for each shelf of our Hand. When it comes to upright freezer and suspended them from curtain We want to hear from our readers. Send accounting for the diver- letters to: Editor, Texas Co-op Power, 2550 rods at the front edge of each shelf. It precludes sity in Texas, I think God S. IH-35, Austin, TX 78704, or e-mail us at loss of cold air, which saves defrosting cycles and [email protected]. Please include the just outdid Himself. name of your town and electric co-op. Letters power cycles and money. —Mary Lasswell, may be edited for clarity and length and will M.L. CAMPBELL be printed as space allows. Read additional I’ll Take Texas, letters at www.texascooppower.com. Comanche County Electric Cooperative Houghton Mifflin, 1958 4 TEXAS CO-OP POWER May 2008 HAPPENINGS Stare down the barrel of history at “SAMUEL COLT: ARMS, ART AND INVENTION,” an WHO KNEW? exhibition of firearms owned or invented by this amazing 19th-century weapon maker. Meet the gun that won the West—the Colt .45— and take in other treasures, including art and awards related to Colt’s life, during this exhibition that runs May 24 through September 1 at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. COLT ENGRAVING BY WARREN LISTER (NOT ON DISPLAY) The exhibition looks back at Colt the inventor, collector and marketing guru who demonstrated the value of branding, introduced manufacturing production lines and came up with the con- cept of interchangeable parts for firearms. Colt’s firearms are known for their simplicity and elegance, from their exquisite lines to their eye-catching finishes of highly polished blue steel, color case hardening and cool white silver-plate meant to reflect light. For more information, call (806) 651-2244 or go to www.panhandleplains.org. There’s something good to say MOORE COUNTY COURTHOUSE SYMBOLIZES A NEW BEGINNING about those nasty flying cock- In downtown Dumas sits the Moore County Courthouse, a 1930 brick-and-concrete struc- roaches from Asia, after all. ture flanked with ornamental eagles. The top floor of the courthouse, designed in the According to the Associated Moderne architectural style by firm Berry and Hatch, originally served as county lockup. Press, they love to devour the In the late 1800s, a plague of grasshoppers almost turned Dumas into a ghost town, chas- eggs of bollworms and beet ing away all residents including the town’s namesake, railroad entrepreneur Louis Dumas. army worms, which threaten In 1926, oil and natural gas were discov- cotton, soybean, corn, tomato, ered in Moore County, and the population cabbage and a variety of other started to boom. Railroad lines connected crops. But like many other ben- the county seat to other communities, and eficial insects, they are sus- the town came back to life.